Testing in Atlantic cause for concern

Published 3:40 pm, Friday, July 25, 2014

The Obama administration's decision to allow seismic searches for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean from Delaware to mid-Florida should arouse deep concern among environmental activists.

It's no surprise that the administration buried the announcement at the onset of last weekend, when the White House customarily prefers to release bad news. It came late on that Friday, July 18, amid a torrent of ominous developments in Ukraine and Gaza.

Seismic searches in the deep are not good for the denizens of the ocean or their caretakers, so the administration may well have hoped few would notice. The timing suggests officials are well aware that the decision will justifiably arouse the wrath of environmental activists because it carries the potential to cause great harm to the ocean environment.

The decision was clothed in language designed to show sensitivity to these concerns. In a written statement, Walter D. Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said: "The bureau's decision reflects a carefully analyzed and balanced approach that will allow us to increase our understanding of potential offshore resources while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments."

The potential payoff is huge. Geologists believe 1.9 billion barrels of oil and 21.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be recovered off the mid- and south-Atlantic coast. But those estimates are based on less-sophisticated surveys done three decades ago. The White House justified the decision by saying those surveys need to be updated.

Despite the administration's precautions, the "dynamite-like" seismic testing cited by environmentalists could injure fish, whales and other marine mammals. This sort of testing is usually a precursor to actual drilling, though that would require a significant permitting. Still, the decision is worrisome.

Let's hope it doesn't take another disaster to make the administration regret last week's decision.